As I began reading the assigned chapter from Supporting Learning with Technology, I was reminded of a prezi that our technology integration chair shared last year. It reflected on the 4 Cs of the 21st Century--collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity. This chapter focused on the 3 Cs--Communication, Collaboration, and Cooperation and the role of technology in supporting these.
Communication between students is very important in the learning process. When students are able to communicate with one another, they provide support for and learn from one another. They are challenged to think critically. Last week, I had a chance to observe the conversations between students as they were collaborating on a project. They were discussing their answers to questions and explaining their rationale for their answers. In one group, one student indicated that they were finished. However, another group member quickly announced that they were not finished. He was correct; they had one additional question to answer--a critical thinking question.
As I continued to read the chapter, I thought about the project on which my class is currently working.
Each team decided on a job they wanted to do. However, one fifth grade
teacher felt that the students are limited when they are assigned a job
or task to complete. She notes that there is a difference between
cooperative and collaborative learning. Collaborative learning
requires all students to actively participate in all parts of the
learning. Cooperative learning, she believes, is best when we want to teach students about accomplishing a task. I will take this into consideration when planning the next project.
The chapter states that technology can play a central role in learning through all forms of communication. One teacher mentioned that as students collaborate on a project using technology, "the activities encourage careful reading strategies, creative thinking to solve a problem, and respect and constructive behavior to accomplish a task. A sense of trust, mutual respect, acceptance, and responsibility will also be fostered as they work together." One of the reasons I entered the LDT program at UGA is to gain a better understanding of the role of technology and how to effectively use it to promote learning in the classroom. Throughout the program, there are constant reminders of the ADDIE model. It is important for me to plan, develop, analyze, and evaluate lessons so that effective communication, collaboration, and cooperation occur in the learning process.
Prior to leaving school on Friday, my principal, Rhonda Hawkins, shared the following in an email: "Secondly,
I love the way I am seeing you stretch yourselves. I love seeing
examples of project-based lessons, collaborative learning, use of
technology, and most of all, students who are happy and loving school." She assured us that we should never be worried about students perfecting the final product. "The process is much more important to me than the outcome." Her email was so encouraging. I look forward to being able to provide more opportunities for my students to effectively use technology to communicate through collaboration with their peers and other students throughout the school and the world.
The email from your principal is so much more encouraging than an email reminding students that to keep pushing students to learn the standards so we can improve test scores for AYP.. I don't feel excessive pressure in that arena but it is there and for a lot of teachers there are probably constant reminders of this. I am fortunate in that I am allowed certain leeway in my approach to educational pursuits in my classroom. Despite these claims by administrators (our own Superintendent expounded on the 3 C's at a Teacher Forum last week) too many times, the reality is one that focuses on test scores.
ReplyDeleteMaking strides toward the 3 C's would seem much more beneficial to students while still maintaining the importance of high standards regarding student assessments.
That's interesting what your colleague said about collaborative vs. cooperative learning. I always thought that collaborative learning was when each team member had an individual role and cooperative was when they all shared all the work. (Then, we also had a class last spring that said collaborative was British and cooperative was American for the exact same thing. Who knows??)
ReplyDeleteRhonda's comments also made me jealous. For us in the high school, we really have to worry about the outcome more than the process. (PSATs, SATs, AP tests...) Even though we don't have to worry about the CRCT because of our status as a private school, we have to worry about test performance anyways. Even I, as a Spanish teacher, am thinking about how my kids will do on the National Spanish Exam this spring! Sometimes I really miss the little ones... :)
Linda, You had a great discussion on this week's reading! I agree with you in that communication is very important in student learning especially when they are working collaboratively or cooperatively. Technology can definitely improve communication. For example, using a iPhone, now students can take pictures of something relevant to their assignment and send it to their friends or post it online. As you said, it is out job to figure out how to use such great technology to enhance student learning!
ReplyDeleteNice principal email. Sometimes, I don't think I'd do well as a 21st century grade school student. I have always preferred individual work. As far as that group that missed the critical thinking question? I have a lot of kids that don't attempt questions that take sentences - or thought - to answer. They don't feel like doing it. Keep doing what you're doing! It sounds great--
ReplyDelete